Matching Items (9)
Filtering by
- Status: Published
Description
Historically, institutions of higher education focused their efforts on programs and services to support traditional students' integration (i.e., the eighteen year old who enrolls in college immediately after graduating from high school) into the college environment. Integration into the university environment contributes to student retention. Underrepresented students, specifically community college transfer students, are left out of the retention planning process. With the increase of transfer students transitioning to four-year universities, this study explored transfer students' integration experience within their initial six weeks of attendance at a receiving institution. This action research study implemented an E-Mentoring Program utilizing the social media platform, Facebook. Results from the mixed-methods study provided evidence that classroom connection interwoven with social rapport with peers, cognizance of new environment, and institutional and peer resources matter for integration within the first six weeks at HUC (a pseudonym). The information gained will be used to inform higher education administrators, student affairs practitioners, faculty, and staff as they develop relevant services, programs, and practices that intentionally support transfer students' integration.
ContributorsAska, Cassandra (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Kleinsasser, Robert (Committee member) / Cook, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This action research study took a mixed methods approach to examine junior and senior student engagement at the honors college in the downtown campus of Arizona State University. The purpose of the study was to better understand the lack of engagement with junior and senior students within the college. The study sought to examine the usage of year specific programs and the possibility of influence on the target populations’ engagement. In addition, the study focused on understanding the usage of such programs and its ability to influence student perception of coping with transitions. The growth of honors education and the value of student engagement lead the study. Life Hacks is a series of programs designed to engage the target population by addressing an anticipated transition. This study focused on exploring junior and senior honors student engagement and the utilization of programs to address the student’s ability to cope with transitions. The program was divided into six workshops that spanned the semester and were taught by college partners who were deemed a resource on the subject matter. Two surveys were deployed: one at the beginning of the semester and the other at the end of the semester. Participants were selected based on their academic status as a junior or senior within the honors college on campus and their age rage. All participants traditionally matriculated from high school and were between the ages of 18-25. Two focus groups, with a total of eight participants (4 juniors and 4 seniors), were conducted at the end of the semester to gather qualitative data. Findings indicated that participants allowed their emotions to influence their ability to cope with transitions. Relationships with peers and staff were important to decision making processes and network building for junior and senior participants. Students within the study set expectations for the college and themselves that influence how they relate to college and their relation to adulthood. The implications of practice that resulted from the study involved improving student access to information and assisting students with understanding the need for the resource and how to apply it to their current and future challenges.
ContributorsGatewood, Kira Kevanah (Author) / Harris, Lauren (Thesis advisor) / Aska, Cassandra (Committee member) / Weatherly, Kimberly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Model Based Automatic and Robust Spike Sorting for Large Volumes of Multi-channel Extracellular Data
Description
Spike sorting is a critical step for single-unit-based analysis of neural activities extracellularly and simultaneously recorded using multi-channel electrodes. When dealing with recordings from very large numbers of neurons, existing methods, which are mostly semiautomatic in nature, become inadequate.
This dissertation aims at automating the spike sorting process. A high performance, automatic and computationally efficient spike detection and clustering system, namely, the M-Sorter2 is presented. The M-Sorter2 employs the modified multiscale correlation of wavelet coefficients (MCWC) for neural spike detection. At the center of the proposed M-Sorter2 are two automatic spike clustering methods. They share a common hierarchical agglomerative modeling (HAM) model search procedure to strategically form a sequence of mixture models, and a new model selection criterion called difference of model evidence (DoME) to automatically determine the number of clusters. The M-Sorter2 employs two methods differing by how they perform clustering to infer model parameters: one uses robust variational Bayes (RVB) and the other uses robust Expectation-Maximization (REM) for Student’s 𝑡-mixture modeling. The M-Sorter2 is thus a significantly improved approach to sorting as an automatic procedure.
M-Sorter2 was evaluated and benchmarked with popular algorithms using simulated, artificial and real data with truth that are openly available to researchers. Simulated datasets with known statistical distributions were first used to illustrate how the clustering algorithms, namely REMHAM and RVBHAM, provide robust clustering results under commonly experienced performance degrading conditions, such as random initialization of parameters, high dimensionality of data, low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ambiguous clusters, and asymmetry in cluster sizes. For the artificial dataset from single-channel recordings, the proposed sorter outperformed Wave_Clus, Plexon’s Offline Sorter and Klusta in most of the comparison cases. For the real dataset from multi-channel electrodes, tetrodes and polytrodes, the proposed sorter outperformed all comparison algorithms in terms of false positive and false negative rates. The software package presented in this dissertation is available for open access.
This dissertation aims at automating the spike sorting process. A high performance, automatic and computationally efficient spike detection and clustering system, namely, the M-Sorter2 is presented. The M-Sorter2 employs the modified multiscale correlation of wavelet coefficients (MCWC) for neural spike detection. At the center of the proposed M-Sorter2 are two automatic spike clustering methods. They share a common hierarchical agglomerative modeling (HAM) model search procedure to strategically form a sequence of mixture models, and a new model selection criterion called difference of model evidence (DoME) to automatically determine the number of clusters. The M-Sorter2 employs two methods differing by how they perform clustering to infer model parameters: one uses robust variational Bayes (RVB) and the other uses robust Expectation-Maximization (REM) for Student’s 𝑡-mixture modeling. The M-Sorter2 is thus a significantly improved approach to sorting as an automatic procedure.
M-Sorter2 was evaluated and benchmarked with popular algorithms using simulated, artificial and real data with truth that are openly available to researchers. Simulated datasets with known statistical distributions were first used to illustrate how the clustering algorithms, namely REMHAM and RVBHAM, provide robust clustering results under commonly experienced performance degrading conditions, such as random initialization of parameters, high dimensionality of data, low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ambiguous clusters, and asymmetry in cluster sizes. For the artificial dataset from single-channel recordings, the proposed sorter outperformed Wave_Clus, Plexon’s Offline Sorter and Klusta in most of the comparison cases. For the real dataset from multi-channel electrodes, tetrodes and polytrodes, the proposed sorter outperformed all comparison algorithms in terms of false positive and false negative rates. The software package presented in this dissertation is available for open access.
ContributorsMa, Weichao (Author) / Si, Jennie (Thesis advisor) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / He, Jingrui (Committee member) / Helms Tillery, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The purpose of this research is to explore Latina/o students' involvement at Arizona State University West and how it affects their sense of belonging, and thereby, their retention. I operationalize a "sense of belonging" as being able to express and feel comfortable with one's ethnic identity in the context of a higher education institution (Hurtado, 1997). I operationalize student involvement by the extent to which an individual student is devoted to their academic experience, invests time studying on campus, participates in student organizations, and interacts with faculty and their peers (Astin, 1984). I draw from Astin's theory of student involvement and Hurtado's sense of belonging as a base for this inquiry because they are critical components to understanding retention among the Latino/a community at Arizona State University West.
ContributorsGuerra, Luis D. (Author) / Cuadraz, Gloria (Thesis director) / Aska, Cassandra (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In this paper, it is determined that learning retention decreases with age and there is a linear rate of decrease. In this study, four male Long-Evans Rats were used. The rats were each trained in 4 different tasks throughout their lifetime, using a food reward as motivation to work. Rats were said to have learned a task at the age when they received the highest accuracy during a task. A regression of learning retention was created for the set of studied rats: Learning Retention = 112.9 \u2014 0.085919 x (Age at End of Task), indicating that learning retention decreases at a linear rate, although rats have different rates of decrease of learning retention. The presence of behavioral training was determined not to have a positive impact on this rate. In behavioral studies, there were statistically significant differences between timid/outgoing and large ball ability between W12 and Z12. Rat W12 had overall better learning retention and also was more compliant, did not resist being picked up and traveled more frequently at high speeds (in the large ball) than Z12. Further potential studies include implanting an electrode into the frontal cortex in order to compare neuro feedback with learning retention, and using human subjects to find the rate of decrease in learning retention. The implication of this study, if also true for human subjects, is that older persons may need enhanced training or additional refresher training in order to retain information that is learned at a later age.
ContributorsSpinrad, Amelia (Author) / Si, Jennie (Thesis director) / Thompson, Patrick (Committee member) / Ma, Weichao (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
As an administrator, it is essential to understand the varying theoretical perspectives and frameworks surrounding leadership and organizational development that support employee and student success. After conducting the first two cycles of action research, it was confirmed that there was a need for an intentional focus on the employees’ experience and their professional development. This focus led to administering a distance mentoring program for higher education administrators. The distance mentoring program was a mixed-methods action research project that ran a total of eight weeks with an orientation, mentoring sessions and individual activities during the first five weeks, and individual interviews three weeks following the intervention. There were eight participants in the study who were paired into four groups of two in order to foster a mentoring relationship using the “other” mentoring model. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of the distance mentoring program with respect to increasing educational outcomes, innovation, job satisfaction, productivity, and strategic action planning for higher education professionals. The distance mentoring program was successful in generating innovative thoughts relevant to the participant’s workplace challenge, increasing job satisfaction, stimulating better solutions for strategic action planning, and creating in a positive impact on the mentoring relationship. Results surrounding productivity were mixed and inconclusive. The implementation of the distance mentoring program was designed to initiate dialogue, brainstorming, planning, and supportive measures by each participant and delivered the social and strategic elements necessary to achieve a more positive, productive, and successful work environment.
ContributorsScott, Kristina (Author) / Ott, Molly (Thesis advisor) / Aska, Cassandra (Committee member) / Maxwell, Tanisha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Many college campuses institute residency requirements intended to provide intentional support, engagement, and assistance in the transition into life as a first-year college student. However, first-year students opting to continue living at home with family and commuting to campus each day has become a growing trend. This group of students can often be more sizable than some may assume and their developmental needs can be consistent with those of their on-campus peers. The objective of this mixed-methods action research study was to better understand how peer-to-peer experiences and opportunities are perceived and to describe and explore the concept of social capital and sense of belonging within the first-year commuter student population. This feeling of isolation can often expand to a lack of campus involvement and engagement in social opportunities. As a result of the perceived needs of this growing first-year commuter student population, a peer mentoring program was launched as a pilot to localize, personalize, and support students by providing a peer student leader in the form of a commuter peer mentor (CPM). Results from the qualitative and quantitative data collected as a part of this study demonstrated that first-year students value specific and easily-identified resources made available to their unique need cases and while many first-year commuter students may feel well supported and connected academically, they articulated challenges with social connections within the university setting. The understandings gained from this action research can inform higher education and student affairs practitioners as they seek to establish or improve programs, resources, and practices that intentionally and thoughtfully support first-year commuter students.
ContributorsMoore, Jeremy (Author) / Wylie, Ruth (Thesis advisor) / Aska, Cassandra (Committee member) / Kim, Samuel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Despite the increase in enrollment of first-generation college students at four-year institutions, this student population was more than twice as likely to drop out before their sophomore year compared to their non-first-generation peers. Specifically, a subgroup of first-generation college students that has been identified as greatly disadvantaged yet received little attention in the literature are those from migrant and seasonal farm worker (MSFW) backgrounds. The unique educational needs and risk factors of these students demand that postsecondary institutions develop resources and support services in an effort to better serve them. While the literature identified co-curricular involvement as a factor contributing to the sense of belonging and retention of college students, it failed to acknowledge the unique experiences of minoritized and/or marginalized student populations. This study introduced and supported the argument that merely offering involvement opportunities did not work for this student population, and suggested that institutional agents who interacted or worked closely with them had to facilitate validating conversations and build close relationships early on to encourage co-curricular involvement. The innovation supported first-generation MSFW students’ participation and engagement in conversations and activities in an effort to help enrich their experiences, and enhance their overall sense of belonging and college retention. The innovation demonstrated the many benefits stemming from first-generation MSFW students’ participation in a peer mentor program, and allowed for collection of feedback in an effort to better serve this student population. Further, based on the results of this study, the innovation may have positive impacts on the sense of belonging and college retention of first-generation MSFW students.
ContributorsOrnelas, Zujaila Mizar (Author) / Basile, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Aska, Cassandra (Committee member) / O'Connor, Brendan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
A student’s sense of belonging at a higher education institution can have a profound impact on their ability to persist through college and complete a degree program. First-year students enrolled in NEW 101 classes at Arizona State University’s (ASU’S) West campus were evaluated to determine if the Solera Experience, a program designed to help first-year students integrate into the ASU community, had an impact on first-year students’ sense of belonging at ASU. Although the Solera Experience was not found to have a large impact on students’ sense of belonging, it is worth noting that a majority of the first-year students felt like they belong at ASU. Additionally, a student’s short-term and long-term belief in their own academic success did influence their perception of belonging at ASU, which suggests, overall, that the programs ASU has in place to establish sense of belonging seem to be effective.
ContributorsMurray, Abigail (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Gordon, Karen (Committee member) / Aska, Cassandra (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05